Crowdfunding for Documentary Spotlighting Trans Comedians

A crowdfunding campaign has launched in support of a new documentary feature film that will highlight the growing community behind North America’s only regular comedy show dedicated to trans women. The film Trans Girls: Raw & Uncut will follow seven trans women both on and off stage as they navigate the raging transphobia of today’s political climate, and celebrate the joys and successes they’ve created in spite of it.

Crowdfunding for Documentary Spotlighting Trans Comedians

• Learn more and donate to the matching campaign

The creative team includes Ky Sargeant as executive producer and lead subject, Erin Purghart as producer, Mily Mumford as director, Mikah Sharkey as director of photography, and Mia Oberholzer as production designer. 

Sargeant joined the Vancouver comedy scene in 2023 after spending a few years doing spoken word poetry. In an environment where major comedians like Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais were making headlines for their transphobic jokes, she dreamt of one day running an all-trans women comedy show. Sargeant began to nurture fellow queer and trans comedians through her monthly open mics, Laughs in Queer, which offered low-stakes environments for newcomers to try their hand at the art form. At the time, there were only a few trans women doing stand-up in Vancouver — through Sargeant’s open mics and eventually the launch of Trans Girls: Raw & Uncut, the scene now has almost 20 trans women comedians. The first Trans Girls: Raw & Uncut event immediately sold more than 300 tickets, with additional shows added soon after. It has been featured in the Just for Laughs VANCOUVER line-up for the past two years as part of Sirius XM’s Best of the West series.

“The success of the show has really shaken up the stand-up scene here because it’s revealed an entirely different model of success for shows in this city,” says Sargeant. “Rather than competing with other comedy shows, we built an entire community from the ground up and brought brand new audiences to watch stand-up. If you look at Vancouver’s comedy scene now compared to when Trans Girls: Raw & Uncut started, there’s a considerable increase in the number of shows being produced by women, 2SLGBTQ+, and BIPOC finding success in ways that weren’t previously imaginable. It’s that larger industry-wide success that inspired us to make this documentary.”

The filmmaking team has already secured private donors who will match up to $20,000. All funds raised through the campaign will go toward the overall film budget, covering additional shooting days and post-production costs, such as music, editing, and sound design.

Check out the next standup comedy showcase on July 16th at the Birdhouse in Vancouver and follow on Instagram for updates.